CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Led by a combined 59 points from Logan Dye, A.J. Staton-McCray, and Ques Glover, the Samford Men's Basketball Team picked up a crucial 85-77 road win over Southern Conference foe Western Carolina on Wednesday evening.
The victory improves the Bulldogs to 15-2 overall and 9-2 in SoCon action. The Catamounts drop to 12-12 overall and 5-6 in league play.
Dye set a new career-best with a game-high 24 points on the night. The senior forward knocked down eight of 14 shots from the field and hauled in seven rebounds.
Staton-McCray logged his first career double-double as a Bulldog with an 18-point, 10-rebound effort on a 7-9 shooting night. Both totals marked season-highs for the sophomore guard, with his 10 rebounds marking a career-best.
Glover finished with 17 points in 25 minutes of action. Both Jermaine Marshall and Jaden Campbell added eight points, with Marshall pulling down three rebounds.
The Catamounts jumped out to an 8-2 lead, but the Bulldogs fought back to trim their deficit to 12-11 at the 13:36 mark following a layup from Marshall. WCU took a seven-point lead twice in the half, with the latest coming on a Colin Granger layup that put them up 23-16 with 9:04 renaming in the period.
The Bulldogs caught fire over the final five minutes of the half, knocking down six of eight shots as part of a 17-4 run that put them up 42-33 at the break. Glover accounted for all 11 of his first-half points during that span, including a three in the closing seconds of the half to cap off the scoring run.
Western Carolina outscored Samford 11-6 to start the second half and went on to cut the Bulldogs' lead to just 54-52 following a three-point play from Tyzhaun Claude at the 12:42 mark.
A three-point basket by Russell Jones Jr. at the 10:00 mark gave the Catamounts a brief 61-60 lead but was negated one possession later by a Staton-McCray driving layup. WCU stayed within striking distance of Samford until a Glover three with 3:48 to play put the Bulldogs up 75-68.
The Bulldogs created even more breathing room after a three-point play from Achor Achor put them up 81-71 with 46 seconds left. The Catamounts trimmed Samford's lead to 81-75 with 32 seconds to go, but the Bulldogs knocked down their next four free throws to ice the game and give way to the 85-77 final score.
Samford put together its second-best free throw shooting performance of the season, knocking down 21 of 24 shots from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs shot the ball efficiently in both halves, shooting 50 percent (15-30) from the floor in the first half and 56 percent (14-25) in the second.
The Bulldogs asserted their dominance down low by tallying 44 points in the paint and outrebounding the Catamounts 38-26 on the evening.
Samford Men's Hoops will return home for its first game in the Pete Hanna Center since Jan. 21 when they host ETSU on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 2:00 p.m. (CST).
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